NATIONALITY

Towards eradicating statelessness – Statelessness Determination Procedures: Part II

Statelessness Determination Procedure Part II

In my last blog, I looked at statelessness determination procedures as a tool to help eradicate statelessness and mitigate the effects of statelessness for stateless people. In this blog, I want to come back to this issue. I look more closely at how the procedure can help both stateless people and the state, which countries have made use of the …

Towards eradicating statelessness – Statelessness Determination Procedures: Part I

Statelessness determination procedure 1

The causes of statelessness are many and can include discrimination against particular ethnic or religious groups, or on the basis of gender, the emergence of new States and transfers of territory between existing States, and gaps in nationality laws.  But statelessness is not an accident. It is often the result of legal, policy, or political decisions made by states. States …

Paper rights – could citizenship in name only solve the problem of statelessness?

Paper Rights Bidoon

Giving citizenship to people who are displaced or stateless is the best way to ensure a sense of belonging.  But what if this is citizenship on paper only and it is of a country where the person has never been and where he or she will not be allowed to reside? Is that person in effect only in possession of …

Guest appearance on the European Network on Statelessness Blog

Lithuania and Latvia Guest Blog

I am proud and very happy to be a guest blogger on the excellent and informative blog by the European Network on Statelessness. The European Network on Statelessness is the collaboration of non-governmental organisations, academic initiatives, and individual experts committed to addressing statelessness in Europe. As well as conducting and supporting legal and policy development, awareness-raising and capacity building activities, the Network …

Statelessness: A long list of what is lost

Statelessness A long list of what is lost

Statelessness 10 million people are currently stateless and many more are at risk of statelessness. Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons defines a stateless person as: “a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law”. A lot is written about statelessness and stateless people …

The Abidjan Declaration – West Africa’s commitment to eliminate statelessness

Abidjan Declaration

What is the Abidjan Declaration on the eradication of statelessness? The Abidjan Declaration was adopted in February 2015 by the Member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to support UNHCR’s global campaign to end statelessness by 2024.  It was endorsed by the Summit of ECOWAS Heads of State and Governments in Accra, Ghana on 19 May …